Board Member Profile: Kathy Waller

Age and Birthday: 36, Birthday is Aug 7

Resides In: Jacksonville Beach

Family Details: Married for 9.5 years to Chuck; Mother to almost 6 year old twins, Will and Sophie, and almost 2 year old, Lainey

Pets: none, even plants die in my house

Hometown: Savannah, GA

Current Board Position: Secretary

College and Major: Georgia Tech, Industrial and Systems Engineering Professional

Details: Software consultant and business analyst for 7 years prior to becoming a stay-at-home mom

Community Involvement: Junior League, Neptune Baptist Church Preschool, Children, Student, and Women's Ministries, Jacksonville Galloway Marathon Training, MOMS Club,

Member of JLJ since: 2005

Why did you join JLJ? I joined JLJ to meet women, to give back to my community, and to feel like I was a part of something fabulous!

What is Your Goal for this year? My goal for this year is to help make JLJ that "thing" that people are excited to be a part of!

What has been your most rewarding moment in JLJ? I love reading real life stories about how our programs have impacted people; the ones from the kids "get me" every time!

What has surprised you most about your time with JLJ? I am really surprised that I've become so involved, but the years where I was most involved are the ones I look back on as the most rewarding.

What has been your favorite placement? Why? My favorite placement was definitely chairing Kids in the Kitchen. It came at a time in my life when I had just come from a pretty fabulous career and all of a sudden found myself at home with two toddlers. At home, my daily work seemed pretty unimportant, and the successes seemed few and far between. It was so exciting researching childhood obesity and bringing the project to Jacksonville...working with a great leadership team, some pretty amazing community partners and a really awesome committee.

How have you been able to use skills you learned in JLJ in your everyday life? It's great ; I use it all the time, even the weirdest things. I definitely use everything that I learned about nutrition and obesity in my home today. It had such an impact on me during a time when my children were learning important eating habits! I also learn so much from the women that meet related to serving the community but SO MUCH MORE! And it all spills over into other parts of my life and other community service I am doing. It just keeps paying forward really.

Give us a reason why you would encourage other women to join JLJ: I would encourage other women to join JLJ because without a doubt I would not be the woman that I am today without my time in the League.

How do you think JLJ most helps the community? I think before now, I would always talk about the lives we change referring people that we touch when we are serving. Lately though, I'm really reflective on how the League has shaped me and other women in this community, and I now often see what we are building here in Jacksonville that will last so much longer than that! We are creating women that will carry JLJ's mission way farther than a DIAD or a one year project at a school. One of the best things our League does THROUGH all of the service is create these amazing pillars in our community!